'Just reward for India's fine performances'

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat lauds Indias climb to top of Test rankings

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On India’s rise: They ended the year on high and it’s a just reward for winning performances over the last year. For 14 to 16 months they have beaten some of the best teams in the world and I am really looking forward to and hopeful that in February next year when India play South Africa in Test matches that may well be the battle for the No 1 spot in Test cricket.

On having a proper Test championship: In an ideal situation it would be fantastic to have some form of championship model. But I think that’s not easy to achieve in so far as Test match cricket is concerned. It involves a lengthy period and you can’t get to a scenario where you can hold that in the space of 12-month calendar year.

So the best thing to try and do for us is to have some form of contest that will be able to provide better framework for Test cricket. We are currently working on it. We have formed a five-member sub-committee of the chief executives committee which includes Dave Richardson (South Africa), David Collier (England), James Sutherland (Australia), Sunil Gavaskar (India) and Nishantha Ranatunga (Sri Lanka). Those five persons are charged with providing a proposal to the full executives committee for consideration in terms of improving the contest in Test and ODI cricket.    

On WADA: Withdrawing from World Anti-Doping Agency is not an option. The current status is that it’s making progress and we are working with the BCCI and other key members to resolve the practical problem on the filing of ‘whereabouts’. We are going to put some proposals for consideration at the next chief executives meeting and hopefully we will come to a solution to resolve the ‘whereabouts’ clause. As far as testing is concerned, whether in or out of competition, that continues.

On Umpire Decision Review System: First and foremost I categorically state that I support the use of technology to assist the umpires in making correct decisions. The statistics have proven to us that that is exactly what has happened. We have got close to 100 per cent correct decisions made possible by the use of technology. We all know how important it is to have a correct umpiring decision.

One wrong decision can change the fate of a Test match and that certainly is not that anyone of us would like to see. So far as taking long time is concerned, I think we will get better at it with the time including the players.

Already you can see them using it with more circumspect. It was never intended to challenge the umpires or the marginal decisions in your favour, it’s meant to root out an obvious error and I think it’s working.